Minimum Wage Increase

Last Updated: November 26, 2025 9:04:04 AM PST

Learn about the student employee minimum wage increase.

The San Diego minimum wage will be increasing from $17.25 to $17.75 per hour, and this increase will have a cascading impact on Grade 2 & 3 casual-restricted student employee pay ranges. Effective dates for this change are December 21, 2025 for impacted bi-weekly employees and January 1, 2026 for impacted monthly employees.

UCPC will automatically manage the wage implementation to bring all students up to the new minimum rate for their respective title codes. Students whose salaries are equivalent to the new minimum rate for their title code (or above) will not be affected by the wage implementation.

See below for more information and instructions for submitting adjustments for your casual-restricted student employees, and/or positions (Information and instructions to be updated in December)

2026 Minimum Pay Rates

2026 Minimum Pay Rates
Salary Grade	Rate	Minimum	Midpoint	Maximum
10	HR	28.95	34.75	40.50
9	HR	24.75	32.15	39.60
8	HR	23.35	29.75	36.20
7	HR	22.95	27.55	32.15
6	HR	21.25	25.55	29.80
5	HR	19.70	23.65	27.55
4	HR	18.25	21.90	25.55
3	HR	18.00	21.15	24.30
2	HR	17.75	20.40	23.10

Requesting Above Minimum Equity

If a department would like to adjust student wages ABOVE the new minimum rates, you must submit an email to the Student Employment Office to request an Equity Increase. The Justification = “In order to maintain a stable work force and due to the 12/21/2025 new minimum wage increase….”.

If you need to submit a request for multiple students, you may use an Excel spreadsheet with pertinent information:

Legal Name
UCPath Employee ID
UCPath Position Number
PID
New Hourly Rate
Justification

Be sure to check that the student is enrolled or registered for Winter 2026. You must submit separate requests (additional Excel sheets) if you have students in a different title code.

You may use the Equity Increase Request Template to create your request, and then submit via email to studentemployment@ucsd.edu.

SEO understands it may take some time for departments to determine and receive funding approvals. Therefore, we will extend the deadline to Friday, February 27, 2026, to submit all student equity and position increase requests with an effective date of 12/21/2025. Any submissions received after Feb. 27, 2026, will be approved effective at the beginning of the next biweekly pay period.

Job Posting Pay Rate Increase Request

Departments who need to update their Handshake Job posting pay rates above the new minimum rate must submit a “Position Equity Request”. If you need to submit multiple position equity requests, you may use an Excel spreadsheet and include the pertinent information:

Working Title/Payroll Title
Most Recent Handshake Job ID
Current Hourly Rate
New Hourly Rate
Justification

Note: You may not arbitrarily increase a rate ABOVE the new minimum pay rate for the title code without a prior Position Equity approval. If you do not submit a request and your job is already at or above the new minimum pay rate for their classification, you must continue paying at that approved rate.

You may use the Position Equity Request Template to create your request, and then submit via email to studentemployment@ucsd.edu.

Current Positions in Handshake

If you have jobs currently posted at the minimum rate for their title code, and the posting is set to expire sometime between January 2026 and June 2026, we are granting a ONE-time exception to allow departments to edit the posting to reflect the new minimum wage. The new minimum wage will need to be updated within the job description, as well as in the custom salary range field.

Have Questions or Need Help?

If you have questions about student employment, please reach out to your department HR Contact.
For additional assistance, please email the Student Employment Office.